the essential
After the attack on several Jewish people in Amsterdam, Thursday, November 7, on the sidelines of a European Cup football match, Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), returns to these events to La Dépêche du Midi.
What is your first reaction after the incidents of Thursday evening in Amsterdam?
I was terrified. I saw images that outraged me and made me angry. We see people being chased, forced to prove that they are not Jewish to escape their attackers. It's a real trauma to see these images circulating on social networks with these humiliations by the dozen.
AFP – STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN
Do these events surprise you?
No because these attacks were predictable. Since the events of October 7, 2023, anti-Semitism has been unleashed with unprecedented violence. The phenomenon has reached a worrying milestone. I draw attention to the fact that what happened on Thursday is not a question of football, nor of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is first and foremost the engine of anti-Semitism which was set in motion to attack Jewish people.
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Faced with the increase in anti-Semitic acts in France, what concrete measures do you propose to calm the situation?
Today, anti-Semitism is fueled by hatred of Israel, Islamism and conspiracy that proliferates on social networks. These three recent, powerful engines give new strength to the phenomenon. They must be fought together, without any concessions, particularly towards political Islamism.
Is that the biggest danger?
I want to talk about the need to lead a political fight. I want to talk here about the role that La France Insoumise played in the French debate because they gave political backing to anti-Semitism. They brought a form of legitimacy to attacking French Jews in the name of what is happening in the Middle East. This responsibility is immense, their excesses and their provocations must stop.
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Emmanuel Macron denounced facts which recall “the most shameful hours in history”. What do you expect from him and the public authorities?
May the fight against anti-Semitism become the great national cause that it must be. I call for public awareness. It must be similar to that concerning sexist and sexual violence and there must be the same mobilization of all public authorities and civil society actors.
In Amsterdam, chants from anti-Palestine Israeli supporters were heard. How do you react?
I have seen these elements on social networks and they must of course be denounced. But these provocations between hooligans, although deplorable and too frequent in Europe, are very different from the anti-Semitic violence observed in Amsterdam. They attacked anyone who was Jewish or Israeli and not hooligans or supporters. There may have been excesses between hooligans and in this case, the police must obviously do their job. But Thursday, it went beyond that.
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Violence responded to provocations?
Not really. These acts were premeditated, this manhunt was organized. Supporters insulting each other and “racing” happens very often. If it had been “only” that, it was “the life of football” and in this case, the Israelis are like the others, no better, no worse. On Thursday, people were chased back to their hotels, one by one, through dark alleys because they were Jewish. This is not a logic of confrontation between supporters.
The France-Israel match is looming next week at the Stade de France. Are you afraid of overflows?
I am worried and very alert. I think that everything must be done, both to hold this match as normally as possible and on the other hand to make it as secure as possible. It would be dramatic for the honor of the Republic if we canceled this match or moved it. Above all, it would hand a victory on a silver platter to the haters. Second thing, the supervision of the meeting must undoubtedly be increased compared to what had been imagined. We must secure the stadium but also ensure that supporters can return home as calmly as possible. Because, in Amsterdam, the attacks took place throughout the city.
